Newly issued financial cards typically require card owners to activate the cards before using them to conduct financial transactions. Common methods of activating such cards include the recipient verifying receipt of the card by calling the card provider via a phone number associated with the home address the recipient provided when applying for the card. During application review, card providers verify that the phone number an applicant provides in his application is linked to the address he provided. Then during activation, the card provider verifies that the card recipient is, in fact, the card owner by verifying that the recipient is calling from a telephone number associated with the address provided with the card application. This verification typically occurs via Automatic Number Identification technology, and if the calling number is verified, the card is activated.
Unfortunately, although this method of financial card activation provides some security it is not foolproof. Typically, the card provider uses caller identification (ID) to verify that the credit card is being activated from the proper telephone number, but card providers do not always verify the activation number via caller ID for any number of reasons, some of the most common relating to the calling number information being blocked. Additionally, phone number verification poses security problems in situations where various persons are sharing the same home address. For example, a person sharing a home address with an individual who applied for a card might easily activate and proceed to use a card recipient's new card simply by activating the card from the card recipient's phone. Therefore, the security of card activation is compromised. Additional methods of security implemented during card activation include the card recipient verifying personal information. However, if the calling telephone number is not verified, verifying personal information provides little security, as such information may be fraudulently obtained and verified.
In addition to security problems of card verification some card applicants may not have a well established phone number linked to their home address for various reasons, such as their replacing a landline with a cell phone, their inability to obtain a phone line, and/or their not wishing to have a phone. Such issues are typically common among lower income individuals who have not been able to establish a “trusted” telephone number with which to associate and build their credit. Because such individuals have little or no credit and because they have no fixed home address with which to associate a “trusted” telephone number, they are, in turn, unable to establish credit. What is needed are more secure and convenient methods of activating financial cards.